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DEM commissioners call for party worker's removal

Democrats on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Saturday called for the removal of a county Democratic Party employee in the wake of allegations of fraud by Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson a day earlier.
Commissioner Dave Coulter, D-Ferndale, said in an e-mail Saturday that Democratic commissioners approved the following statement:
“Democrats on the Board of Commissioners are very concerned about allegations that an employee of the county party may have had a role in fraudulent Tea Party candidate filings. We have been strong advocates for open and transparent county government, and there is no place in our politics where deception can be tolerated. Without commenting on the legal merits of these accusations, we ask for the immediate removal of Jason Bauer as an employee of the Oakland County Democratic Party. Our caucus members and candidates demand the highest ethical standards of ourselves, our government and our party, and any violation of those standards must have real and significant consequences.”

Bauer was singled out in a news conference by Johnson Friday as having notarized signatures of some candidates seeking office through a group called Tea Party, which is seeking political party status on the November ballot.
At the news conference, Johnson said signatures on affidavits of identity of some candidates didn't appear to match the signatures on their voter registrations and that she had been contacted by one of the candidates, now living out of state, who said he didn't file to run for office and had no intention of running.
The Tea Party group's petitions to appear as a party on the November ballot are scheduled to be reviewed by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers Monday.